Welcome to Body Politic!

Greetings, all! I am thrilled to be unveiling Body Politic here on PLoS Blogs and am honored to share this platform with some truly amazing scientists and journalists. I hope to start some thought-provoking discussions and learn as much, if not more, from you as I hope you’ll learn from me.

Most of you don’t know me, so let me tell you a bit about myself. I am a freelance science and health journalist and write for magazines including Scientific American, Nature Medicine, Slate, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Glamour, Redbook, and O: The Oprah magazine. Although my audience varies widely—Nature Medicine and Glamour don’t share many of the same readers, except perhaps me—I find that the topics I most love to write about are relevant and important for everyone. The question that gets me up every morning is this: are the things we put into our bodies each day safe and appropriately regulated?

As I have learned in my five years as a journalist, health issues are incredibly complex. That’s why so much media coverage is inaccurate or misleading—a single finding needs to be picked apart and put into context. As a freelancer, I’m lucky, because I typically have enough time to dig and digest the emerging science, and that extra time and effort is what I hope will make this blog stand out (in addition to its fabulous banner, which was designed by the amazing Kityee Au-Yeung. Thank you Kit!). I also have a background in cell and molecular biology, which helps me decipher the science.

Ultimately, I want to bring the world a nuanced, informed perspective about the things we are exposed on a daily basis. I hope you enjoy Body Politic and that it will ultimately keep you and your families healthier.